A LOOK AT BARCELONA.
The sudden disappearance of Raimundo produced
the greatest astonishment on board of the Tritonia,
and not less among those who knew him best in the
other vessels of the squadron. His character had been
excellent since he first joined the academy squadron.
No one believed he had run away for the mere sake of
escaping the study and discipline of his vessel, or for
the sake of “a time” on shore. The _abogado’s_ business
was explained to Mr. Pelham on board of the
Tritonia, but to no others. Raimundo was gone without
a doubt; but when, where, or how he had disappeared,
was a profound mystery.
The excellent character of Raimundo, and the fact
that he was a universal favorite, were strongly in his
favor; and no one was disposed to render a harsh
judgment in regard to his singular conduct. The officers
talked it over in the cabin, the seamen talked it
over in the steerage. The students could make nothing
of the matter; and it looked to them very much like
the usual cases of running away, strange as it seemed
to them that a fellow like Raimundo, who had been a
model of good conduct on board, should take such a
step.
Of course Scott was an exception to the general rule.
Though he knew not where his friend had gone, he
understood why he had disappeared; for Raimundo had
told him what he had heard on board of the American
Prince, and he was fully satisfied that the stranger had
come for him.
“I think the matter is fully explained,” said Professor
Crumples, in the state–room. “A demand has been
made on the principal for Raimundo; and straightway
Raimundo disappears. It is plain enough to me that
the young man knew the lawyer was after him.”
“But how could he know it?” demanded Professor
Primback.
“That I cannot explain; but I am satisfied that a
student like Raimundo would not run away. He has
not gone for a frolic, or to escape his duty: he is not
one of that sort,” persisted Professor Crumples.
“I think you are right, Mr. Crumples,” added the
vice–principal. “Raimundo was a bad boy, or at least
full of mischief and given to a lark, before he joined
the institution; but for more than a year his deportment
has been perfectly exemplary. He has been a
model since I have had charge of this vessel. I have
found that those who have really reformed are often
stiffer and more determined in their zeal to do right
than many who have never left the straight path of
duty. I may say that I know this fact from experience.
I am satisfied that Raimundo had some very strong
motive for the step he has taken. But what you say,
Mr. Crumples, suggests a little further inquiry into the
matter.”
The vice–principal spoke Spanish, and he immediately
sent for the _alguacil_ to join the trio in the state–room.
“Had the boats belonging to this vessel left the
steamer when Don Francisco went on board of her?”
asked Mr. Pelham as the Spanish officer entered the
room.
“No, sir: not a boat had left the steamer when Don
Francisco was permitted to go on the deck of the
steamer,” replied the _alguacil_ promptly. “He waited
on the steps, at the head of which the big officer stood,
for more than an hour; and I was in the boat at the
foot of the steps all the time. I counted eight boats
made fast to the boom; and I am sure that no one left
the steamer till after Don Francisco had been admitted
on board. I saw all the boys get into these boats, and
pull away to this vessel and the other.”
“Then Don Francisco was on the deck of the
steamer at the same time that our ship’s company
were there,” added Mr. Pelham.
“No doubt of that,” replied the _alguacil_, who appeared
to desire that no suspicion of foul play on the
part of the officers or the principal should be encouraged.
“Now, if I could find any one who noticed the conduct
of Raimundo on board of the steamer, we might
get at something,” continued the vice–principal.
“I think you can easily find such a one,” suggested
Professor Crumples. “Lieutenant Scott and Raimundo
are fast friends; they are in the same quarter–watch,
and appear to be great cronies.”
“I was thinking of him when you spoke.—Mr.
Scott,” called the vice–principal, when he had opened
the door of the state–room.
Scott was in the cabin, and presented himself at the
door. He was requested to come in, and the door was
closed behind him.
“Were you with Raimundo on board of the steamer?”
asked Mr. Pelham.
Scott was fully determined not to do or say any thing
that would injure his friend, even if he were sent to the
brig for his fidelity to the absent shipmate; and he
hesitated long enough to consider the effect of any thing
he might say.
“We are all friends of Raimundo, and do not wish
to harm him,” added the vice–principal. “You have
already said you did not know where Raimundo was.”
“I do not.”
“Do you object to answering the question I asked?”
“I do not,” replied Scott, who had by this time made
up his mind that the truth could not harm his friend.
“I was with Raimundo all the time he was on board of
the steamer. We went in the same boat, and returned
together.”
“Did you notice the gentleman that came on board
of the Tritonia with Mr. Lowington?”
“I did. He was on deck here half an hour, or
more.”
“Did you see him on board of the American
Prince?”
“I did. He spoke to the principal just as Raimundo
and I passed behind him.”
“Behind whom?”
“Behind the principal. I looked the gentleman in
the face while he was speaking to Mr. Lowington.”
“Do you know what he said?”
“I can walk Spanish, but I can’t talk Spanish; and
so I couldn’t understand him.”
“You don’t know what he said, then?”
Scott hesitated again.
“I don’t say that.”
“But you intimated that you did not understand
Spanish.”
“I do know what the gentleman said as I passed
him,” replied Scott.
“How could you know, without understanding the
language he spoke?”
“Raimundo told me what he said; and he could
understand Spanish if I could not.”
“Ah, indeed! Raimundo told you! Well, what did
he tell you the gentleman said?” asked the vice–principal
earnestly.
“He told me he heard the gentleman ask the principal
if he had a student under his care by the name of
Enrique Raimundo: that’s all he heard, and that’s all
he told me about the gentleman,” replied Scott, who
had said so much because he believed that this information
would do his absent shipmate more good than
harm.
“That explains it all,” added Mr. Pelham; and he
informed the _alguacil_ what Scott had said.
This was all the vice–principal had expected to show
by Scott; and he was entirely satisfied with the information
he had obtained, not suspecting that the third
lieutenant knew any thing more about the matter. Mr. Pelham
and the rest of the party asked Scott some
more questions in regard to the conduct of the absentee
after he came on board of the Tritonia; but
Raimundo had taken care that his friend should know
nothing at all about his intended movements, and the
lieutenant was as ignorant of them as any other person
on board. To his intense relief he was dismissed without
having betrayed the confidence of his friend in the
slightest degree.
Scott knew the whole story of the young Spaniard;
and he was confident that the principal and the vice–principal,
if not the professors, had learned at least
Don Alejandro’s side of it from the stranger; and he
felt that he was relieving his friend from the charge of
being a runaway, in the ordinary acceptation of the
term, by showing that Raimundo knew that some one
was after him.
The exciting topic was discussed by all hands till the
anchor–watch was set, and the rest of the ship’s company
had turned in. Even Bill Stout and Bark Lingall
in the brig had heard the news, for Ben Pardee had
contrived to communicate it to them on the sly; and
they discussed it in whispers, as well as another more
exciting question to them, after all hands below were
asleep. Bill was fully determined to repeat the wicked
experiment which had so providentially failed that day.
“Bark is willin’,” added that worthy, when the plan
had been fully considered.
The _alguacil_ visited every part of the vessel, attended
by the vice–principal, before he retired for the
night. The next morning, all hands were mustered on
deck, and the search was repeated. This time the hold
was visited; but no sign of the fugitive could be found.
The _alguacil_ protested that he was sure no attempt
had been made by any person on board to conceal the
absentee; for every facility had been afforded him to
see for himself.
Breakfast had been ordered at an early hour; for it
was understood that all hands were to go on shore, and
see what little there was to be seen in Barcelona.
Before the meal was finished, the principal came on
board with Don Francisco. The _alguacil_ reported to
his employer what he had done, and described the
thorough search which had been made for the missing
ward. The principal offered to do any thing the
lawyer would suggest in order to find Raimundo. No
one could imagine how he had left the vessel, though it
seemed to be a settled conviction with all that he had
left. Don Francisco could suggest nothing; but he
insisted that the _alguacil_ should remain on the vessel,
to which the principal gladly assented.
Don Francisco was sent on shore in good style in the
first cutter of the Prince; and, as soon as breakfast was
over in the Tritonia, the principal directed that all
hands should be mustered in the waist.
“Young gentlemen,” said Mr. Lowington, as soon as
the students had assembled, “I spent last evening, and
the greater part of last night, in devising a plan by
which all hands in the fleet may see the most interesting
portions of Spain and Portugal.”
This announcement was received with a demonstration
of applause, which was permitted and even enjoyed
by the faculty; for it had long before been proved
that the boys were honest and sincere in their expressions
of approbation, and that they withheld their
tribute when they were not satisfied with the announcement,
or the programme, whatever it was. The principal
bowed in acknowledgment of the applause.
“I am well aware that some of the interior towns of
Spain possess more interest than any on the seacoast;
and therefore I have decided that you shall see both.
You will spend to–morrow in seeing Barcelona, which
may easily be seen in one day by those who do not
wish to make a critical survey of the country. To–night
the ship’s company of the American Prince will
depart for Saragossa; and will visit Burgos, Valladolid,
the Escurial, Madrid, Toledo, Badajos, and thence
through Portugal to Lisbon, from which they may go
to Cintra and other places. They will reach Lisbon
in about two weeks. To–morrow morning the ship’s
company of the Tritonia and that of the Josephine
will be sent in the steamer direct to Lisbon, from
which place they will make the tour, reversed, back
to Barcelona. The ship’s company of the American
Prince will return to Barcelona in their own vessel,
which will wait for them at Lisbon. When all hands
are on board again, the squadron will sail along
the coast, visiting Valencia, Alicante, Carthagena,
Malaga, Gibraltar, and Cadiz; and another interior
trip will be made to Granada, Cordova, and Seville.
This plan will enable you to see about the whole
of Spain. Then we shall have visited nearly every
country in Europe. To–day will be used in coaling
the steamer, and you will go on shore as soon as you
are ready.”
This speech was finished with another demonstration
of applause; and the principal immediately returned
to the Prince, alongside of which several coal–barges
had already taken their places. The students
had put on their go–ashore uniforms, and were in readiness
to take a nearer view of the city. The officers
and crew of the Prince had packed their bags for the
two weeks’ trip through Spain, and her boats were now
pulling to the landing–place near the foot of the _Rambla_.
Those of the Josephine and Tritonia soon followed
them.
The _alguacil_ remained on board of the Tritonia.
He had a recent photograph of Raimundo, obtained
in New York by Don Alejandro’s agent; and he was
confident that the fugitive had not left the vessel with
the rest of the students. As it was necessary for the
adult boatswain and carpenter, Marline and Rimmer,
to go on shore with the boats in order to take charge
of them, the two prisoners in the brig were left in care
of the head steward. When the vessel was deserted
by all but the cooks and stewards, the _alguacil_ made
another diligent search for the ward of his employer,
but with no better success than before. He tried to
talk with Salter, the chief steward; but that individual
did not know a word of Spanish, and he did not get
ahead very fast. In the course of an hour, he seemed
to be disgusted with his occupation, and, calling a
shore boat, he left the Tritonia. Probably Don Francisco
had directed him to use his own judgment as to
the time he was to remain on board.
Mr. Salter was the chief steward of the Tritonia, and
he had a great deal of business of his own to attend to,
so that he could not occupy himself very closely in
looking after the marines in the brig. He was obliged
to make up his accounts, which were required to be as
accurately and methodically kept as though the vessel
were a man–of–war. His desk was in the cabin, for he
was an officer of no little consequence on board.
Though the passage–way between the cabin and the
steerage was open, he could not see, from the place
where he was seated, what the prisoners were about, or
hear their conversation. They had their books in the
brig, though they did not study their neglected lessons.
But what they said and what they did must be reserved
till a later time in the day; for it would not be fair to
leave all the good students to wander about Barcelona
without any attention.
The boats landed, and for the first time the young
voyagers stood on the soil of Spain. Captain Wainwright,
Scott, and O’Hara were among those who were
permitted to take care of themselves, while not a few
were in charge of the vice–principals and the professors.
Those who were privileged to go where they pleased
without any supervision chose their own companions.
Scott and O’Hara were inclined to train in the same
company; and Captain Sheridan and Lieutenant Murray
of the steamer, with whom both of them had been
formerly very intimate, hailed them as they came on
shore. The four formed a party for the day. It was a
very desirable party too, for the reason that Dr. Winstock,
an old traveller in Spain, as indeed he was in all
the countries of Europe, was as great a crony of Sheridan
as he once had been of Paul Kendall, the first
captain of the Josephine, and a commander of the
Young America. The surgeon shook hands with Scott
and O’Hara, and then led the way to the _Rambla_,
which is the broad avenue extending through the centre
of the city.
“Barcelona, I suppose you know, young gentlemen,
is the second city in Spain in population, and has nearly
or quite two hundred thousand inhabitants,” said the
doctor, as the party entered the _Rambla_. “It is by
far the most important commercial city, and is quite a
manufacturing place besides. There are several cotton,
silk, and woollen mills outside of the walls; and
ten years ago the imports of cotton from the United
States were worth nearly five millions of dollars.”
“What do you call our country in Spanish, doctor?”
asked Sheridan.
“_Los Estados Unidos de America_,” replied Dr. Winstock.
“By the way, O’Hara, do you speak Spanish?”
“No, sir: I spake only Oyrish and Oytalian,”
laughed the fourth lieutenant of the Tritonia.
“Though Spanish and Italian are very much alike,
each of them seems to be at war with the other. Ford,
in Murray’s Hand–book for Spain, says that a knowledge
of Italian will prove a constant stumbling–block in
learning Spanish. I found it so myself. Before I
came to Spain the first time I could speak the language
very well, and talked it whole evenings with my professor.
Then I took lessons in Italian; but I soon found
my Spanish so confused and confounded that I could
not speak it at all.”
“Then I won’t try to learn Spanish,” added O’Hara.
“Here is the post–office on your right, and the _Teatro
Principal_ on the left; but it is not the principal theatre
at the present time.”
“This street—I suppose they would call it a boulevard
in Paris—is not unlike ‘_Unter den Linden_’ in
Berlin,” said Murray. “It has the rows of trees in the
middle.”
“But the time to visit the _Rambla_ is just before night
on a pleasant day, when it is crowded with people.
Barcelona is not so thoroughly Spanish as some other
cities of Spain—Madrid and Seville, for instance.
The people are quite different from the traditional
Spaniard, who is too dignified and proud to engage in
commerce or to work at any honest business; while the
Catalans are an industrious and thriving people, first–rate
sailors, quick, impulsive, and revolutionary in their
character. They are more like Frenchmen than Spaniards.”
“There is a square up that narrow street,” said
Sheridan.
“That’s the _Plaza Real_,—Royal Square,—surrounded
by houses with arcades, like the _Palais Royal_
in Paris. In the centre of it is a fine monument, dedicated
to the Catholic kings, as distinguished from the
Moorish sovereigns, and dedicated to Ferdinand and
Isabella; and you remember that Catalonia became a
part of Aragon, and was annexed to Castile by the marriage
of their respective sovereigns. This is the _Rambla
del Centro_, for this broad avenue has six names in its
length of three–quarters of a mile. Here is the _Calle
Fernando_ on our right, which is the next street in importance
to the _Rambla_, and, like it, has several names for
its different parts. Now we have the _Teatro del Lico_ on
our left, which is built on the plan of _La Scala_ at Milan,
and is said to be the largest theatre in Europe, seating
comfortably four thousand people.”
Dr. Winstock continued to point out the various
objects of interest on the way; but most of them were
more worthy to be looked at than to be written about.
The party walked the entire length of the _Rambla_ to
the _Plaza de Cataluña_, which is a small park, with a
fountain in the centre. Taking another street, they
reached a point near the centre of the city, where the
cathedral is located. It is a Gothic structure, built in
the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In 1519 Charles V.
presided in the choir of this church over a general
assembly of the Knights of the Golden Fleece. Under
the high altar is the crypt or tomb of St. Eulalia, the
patron saint of the city. She suffered martyrdom in
the fourth century; and it is said that her remains were
discovered five hundred years after her death, by the
sweet odor they emitted. Her soul ascended to heaven
in the visible form of a dove.
Near the cathedral, on the _Plaza de la Constitucion_,
or Constitution Square, are the Town Hall and the
Parliament House, in which the commons of Catalonia
met before it became a part of the kingdom of Aragon.
Between this square and the _Rambla_ is the church of
_Santa Maria del Pino_, Gothic, built a little later than
the cathedral. Its name is derived from a tradition that
the image of the Virgin was found in the trunk of a pine–tree,
and because this tree is the emblem of the Catholic
faith, ever green and ever pointing to heaven. On
the altars of two of its chapels, Jews were allowed to
take an oath in any suit with a Christian, or to establish
the validity of a will, and for similar purposes. In
another church Hebrews are permitted to take oath on
the Ten Commandments, placed on an altar.
The party visited several other churches, and finally
reached the great square near the head of the port, on
which are located the Royal Palace, the Exchange, and
the Custom House; but there is nothing remarkable
about them. There are fifty fountains in the city, the
principal of which is in the palace square. It is an
allegorical representation of the four provinces of Catalonia.
“There is not much to see in Barcelona,” said Dr.
Winstock, as they walked along the sea–wall, in the
resort called the _Muralla del Mar_. “This is a commercial
city, and you do not see much that is distinctively
Spanish. Commerce with other nations is very
apt to wear away the peculiarities of any people.”
“But where are the Spaniards? I don’t think I have
seen any of them,” added Sheridan.
“Probably most of the people you have met in our
walk were Spaniards,” replied the doctor.
“Don’t we see the national costume?”
“You will have to go to a bull–fight to see that,”
laughed the surgeon; “and then only the men who
take part in the spectacle will wear the costume. The
audience will be dressed in about the same fashion you
have seen all over Europe. Perhaps if you go over
into Barceloneta you will find some men clothed in the
garb of the Catalans.”
“Shall we see a bull–fight?” asked Scott.
“Not in Barcelona. I suppose, if there should be an
opportunity, the principal would allow all who wished
to see it to do so; for it is a Spanish institution, and the
traveller ought not to leave Spain without seeing one.
But it is a sickening sight; and, after you have seen one
or two poor old horses gored to death by the bull, you
will not care to have any more of it. The people of
this city are not very fond of the sport; and the affair
is tame here compared with the bull–fights of Madrid
and Seville.”
At three o’clock those of the party who belonged to
the steamer departed for Saragossa. Scott and O’Hara
wandered about the city the rest of the day, visiting
Barceloneta, and taking an outside view of the bull–ring,
or _Plaza de Toros_, which is about the same thing
as in all the other large cities of the country. They
dined at a French restaurant in the _Rambla_, where
they did not go hungry for the want of a language. At
an early hour they returned to the Tritonia, where they
were to spend another night before their departure in
the American Prince.